JP2002271615A - Image processing unit and imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing unit, that can set a processing condition to generate image data with different magnifications with one operation with respect to an input image to be processed, and processes the input image according to the set processing conditions. SOLUTION: Line memories 41, 42 apply velocity conversion to a received digital image signal, magnification conversion control data loaded to a memory 43 according to the setting of a magnification instructed by an operation section are read, and re-sampled data are subjected to an interpolation arithmetic operation 362 by cubic function convolution method to convert the magnification. The image processing unit has an operation mode, where a plurality of kinds of original sizes, number of pages of the original, a plurality of kinds of number of copies, a combination a plurality of magnifications of the main and sub scannings, and a plurality of sizes of print paper sheets can simultaneously set through one setting of the operation section, and a memory control 364 selects/sets parameters as magnification conversion control to conduct a series of processing according to the setting.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus which can be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and the like, and more particularly to a digital image processing apparatus provided with means for subjecting an input image to magnification conversion and outputting the image. The present invention relates to an image processing device and an image forming device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital copying machine, a magnification conversion process of a digital image has been conventionally performed, and this is realized by controlling reading or writing of image data from or to a line memory using a line memory. In the case of the reduction process including the same magnification, the image data is reduced and written to the line memory. In the case of the enlargement process, the image data is read from the line memory and then the image data is enlarged. As the level of the image data after the magnification conversion, data corrected by the cubic function convolution method with respect to the resampling position determined by the magnification is used. The resampling position is equally divided into a plurality of pixels depending on the accuracy, and is set to the closest position based on the magnification. The pixel overlapping the original pixel position is not subjected to the correction processing and is left as it is. In addition, the correction coefficient for each position is fixed. Proposals relating to the above-described magnification conversion processing are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 4-367080 and Hei 8-125836.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional scaling process, the magnification conversion control data is C
The PU loads control data corresponding to the magnification set based on the magnification specified by the operation unit into the memory, and sequentially reads the control data based on the address generated by the internal circuit. The control data to be loaded into the mounted memory is normally one type of data, and a single setting operation allows a plurality of originals to be copied with a plurality of types and a plurality of magnifications. Can not do. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and enables setting of processing conditions for generating image data having different magnifications by a single operation on an input image to be processed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that processes an input image according to the processing conditions. More specifically, as the operation mode, a combination of a plurality of types of document sizes, the number of pages of the document, a plurality of types of copies, a plurality of magnifications of main scanning and sub scanning, and a plurality of An image processing apparatus having a mode in which the size can be set at the same time and including means for simultaneously loading the set data as control data of the image processing apparatus onto a memory is proposed. In addition, in a single setting operation, a plurality of document sizes, the number of pages of a document, a plurality of types of printed sheets, a combination of a plurality of magnifications of main scanning and sub-scanning, and a plurality of sizes of printing paper are processed as processing conditions. It is a further object to provide an image forming apparatus (for example, a copier, a printer, a facsimile, etc.) which can be set for an input image to be processed, processes the input image according to the set processing conditions, and prints out. .

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operation unit for setting a processing condition, and an image for processing an input image signal in accordance with the processing condition set by the operation unit to generate output image data. An image processing apparatus having a processing unit,
The operation unit is capable of setting processing conditions for generating image data having different magnifications by a single operation for an input image to be processed, and the image processing unit is configured to sequentially output image data having different magnifications according to the setting. An image processing apparatus characterized in that the image processing apparatus is generated by the above processing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the image processing section converts a speed of an input image by a line memory according to magnification setting data and an image data to be resampled. Is provided with scaling processing means for performing a process of performing an interpolation operation by using a cubic function convolution method.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an original reading apparatus,
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a read original image is used as an input image, and an image forming apparatus comprising: a unit configured to form an image based on image data generated by the image processing apparatus; The operation unit includes, as processing conditions for generating image data, a plurality of document sizes, the number of pages of the document, a plurality of types of printed sheets, a combination of a plurality of magnifications of main scanning and sub-scanning, and a plurality of sizes of printing paper. Can be set by a single operation for an input image to be processed, and the image processing unit generates image data used for image formation by a series of processes according to the setting. .

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described based on the following embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a digital copying machine as an image processing apparatus. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the digital copying machine according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This digital copier is roughly divided into
It comprises an original reading device 1, an IPU (image processing unit) 3, and an image forming device 5. An original reading apparatus 1 includes an original table 11, an exposure lamp 12, a mirror system 13, a CCD 1 as an image sensor in a scanner unit.
4 and a scanner control unit 15. The IPU 3 includes a video processing unit 3V and a system control unit 3S. The image forming apparatus 5 includes a writing unit 50, a photoconductor 51, a charging charger 5
2. developing device 53, transfer charger 54, cleaning device 55, paper feed tray 56, paper feed roller 57, registration roller 58, fixing device 59, paper discharge roller 60, paper discharge tray 6
1. A plotter control unit 5P is provided. Further, in addition to the above, a printer I / F processing unit connected to an external host 9, an image memory unit 4, and an operation unit 6 are provided.

The operation of the apparatus according to the embodiment will be described. The scanner control unit 15 includes a CPU and logic, communicates with the system control unit 3S, detects a state from each sensor of the document reading apparatus 1, and transmits the status information to the system control unit 3S. Further, in accordance with the command information received from the system control unit 3S, the operation of each drive unit of the document reading apparatus 1 is controlled to perform the scanning operation of the document placed on the document table 11 and the signal of the document reading from the CCD 14 (video signal). Data) to the video processing unit 3 of the IPU 3
Transfer to V. The plotter control unit 5P is composed of a CPU and logic, communicates with the system control unit 3S, detects the state of each sensor of the image forming apparatus 5, and transmits the status information to the system control unit 3S. Further, based on the command information received from the system control unit 3S and the video data from the video processing unit 3V, the image forming apparatus 5
Control the operation of each image forming process unit and paper transport unit.
An image forming process is performed on the transfer paper.

An operation unit 6 includes a CPU, a key switch, and an LCD.
It is composed of a display unit and logic, communicates with the system control unit 3S, detects a key input by the operator, and transmits the status information as command information. Also,
According to the command information received from the operation unit 6, various information such as the state of the machine is displayed on the LCD display unit. Printer I /
The F processing unit 2 includes a CPU and logic, and performs a command I / F process between the system control unit 3S and the external host 9. Further, it performs a process of transferring video data to and from the external host 9 and transfers video data sent from the external host 9 to the video processing unit 3V. With this operation, the digital copier also functions as a printer. The image memory unit 4 includes a CPU, a logic, and an image memory, communicates with the system control unit 3S, transmits status information for notifying the state of the image memory unit 4, and receives commands from the system control unit 3S. Then, according to the command information, storage of received image data, various processing such as image synthesis, and transmission processing of processed data to the video processing unit 3V are performed.

The IPU (image processing unit) 3 comprises a video processing unit 3V and a system control unit 3S. The video processing unit 3V is configured by logic,
A / D conversion, shading correction, and video data transfer from the CCD 14 of the document reading device 1 are performed based on parameter settings by the system control unit 3S.
Image processing such as scaling processing and dither processing is performed, and transmitted to the writing unit of the image forming apparatus 5 together with an image synchronization signal. The system control unit 3S includes a CPU and logic, and includes a scanner control unit 15, a plotter control unit 5P, an operation unit 6, a printer I / F processing unit 2, an image memory unit 4, and a video processing unit 3V.
To manage the status of each processing unit, set parameters and execute processes, and manage and control the entire digital copying machine.

FIG. 2 shows the system configuration related to the video processing unit 3V of the IPU 3 in the digital copying machine of the present embodiment in more detail. The configuration and operation of the system related to the video processing unit 3V will be described below. Document reading device 1
Scans a document in response to a start signal, converts the image information of the document into an electric signal through a filter 16, and reads the signal.
A CD image sensor 14 is provided. The electrical signal output of the CCD image sensor 14 reading the document image is transferred to the video processing unit 3V of the IPU 3 together with the synchronization signal.
The video processing unit 3V inputs an electric signal (video data) transmitted from each CCD (a plurality of CCDs in the case of a color image sensor or the like) 31 to an A / D converter 32 and converts the signal into digital image data. The converted digital output is input to a shading correction circuit 33 to perform shading correction. The image data after the shading correction is sent to the next-stage filter processing circuit 35, where the image data is subjected to a process of correcting the level of the pixel of interest based on the levels of the pixel of interest and peripheral pixels. Is sent to the next-stage scaling processing circuit 36.

The scaling processing circuit 36 is a part deeply related to the present invention, and will be described later in detail. The image data processed in the scaling processing circuit 36 is output to the next-stage path control circuit (1) 37. Path control circuit (1)
37 transmits the image data sent from the scaling processing circuit 36 to the image memory section 4 and the image processing circuit 38 according to the parameters set by the system control section 3S. Reading out the image data stored in the image memory unit 4;
The transferred image data is transmitted to the image processing circuit 38. For example, an image data path switching control operation is performed.
The image processing circuit 38 performs image processing such as γ correction processing, dither processing, and error diffusion processing on the image signal transmitted via the image memory unit 4 or directly from the scaling processing circuit 36. , Together with the synchronization signal to the next-stage path control circuit (2) 39.

The print control circuit 40 includes a ROM, in which a "multi secret pattern" and a "management number pattern" are stored.
And the like are coded and stored.
The information in the ROM is transmitted to the path control circuit (2) 39 in accordance with the parameter setting by S. Path control circuit (2) 3
9 generates image data obtained by synthesizing the image data sent from the image processing circuit 38 and the printer I / F processing unit 2 in accordance with the parameters set by the system control unit 3S. The image processing circuit 38 and the image data sent from the printer I / F processing unit 2 and the above-described composite image data are selected. A print control circuit 40 for the image data selected above
The print image data sent from the printer is synthesized. And the like, and processes the processed image data in the next-stage image forming apparatus 5.
Is output together with the synchronizing signal to the writing unit 50.

The details of the scaling processing circuit 36 provided in the video processing unit 3V (see FIG. 2) of the IPU 3 will be described. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of such a scaling processing circuit 36. FIG.
The circuit configuration and operation of the scaling processing circuit 36 will be described with reference to FIG. The scaling processing circuit 36 is a processing block for realizing a change in the magnification of image data in the main scanning of the copying machine (scanning of the CCD 14 for each line). This circuit includes an image path control unit 36 as a scaling processing system for an input image.
3, an interpolation operation unit 362 and a line memory control unit 361, and the line memory control unit 361
3 controls a line memory (1) 41 and a line memory (2) 42 connected in parallel. Further, a memory control unit 36 that controls the transfer of control data to the scaling processing system.
4 and the memory control unit 364 controls the memory 43 that stores control data. In the scaling process, by changing the combination of the two parts of the interpolation calculation process and the speed conversion process by the line memory, the processing units of “actual magnification and reduction” and “enlargement” are configured.

In the flow of image data, interpolation processing is performed after "interpolation" and "speed reduction" processing, and speed conversion processing is performed during "enlargement" processing and interpolation processing is performed. To do. The speed conversion is realized by controlling a read enable (ren) or write enable (wen) signal for the line memory (1) 41 and the line memory (2) 42. In the embodiment of FIG.
This function is realized by the line memory control unit 361.
In the interpolation operation, the image data at the resampling position is interpolated by the interpolation operation unit 362 using the image data before and after in the main scanning direction using the cubic function convolution method. In the present embodiment, the range of the main scanning magnification change is
25% to 400% (in 0.5% increments) The selection of enlargement / reduction is controlled by a control command to the line memory control unit 361, and the actual resampling position of the image data is given by the scaling control data written in the internal memory.
The line memory control unit 361 sends a read enable (ren) signal and a write enable (w) to the line memory (1) 41 and the line memory (2) 42 attached in parallel.
en) The signal is controlled by the scaling control data, and the signal is toggled.

The operations of the same-size processing, reduction processing, and enlargement processing will be described below. (1) Same-size processing In the case of the same-size processing, the input image data is written into the line memory (1) 41 and the line memory (2) 42 through the interpolation calculation unit 362 by the path control of the image path control unit 363. . The image data written in the two line memories 41 and 42 are read out after being delayed by one line, and are synthesized under the active state of the read enable ren1 and ren2.
The image is output as an output image through the image path control unit 363. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, ren and wen are always set to Low, and the speed conversion is not performed, and the same magnification operation is performed. (2) Reduction Processing In the case of the reduction processing, the input image data is sent to the interpolation calculation section 362 through the image path control section 363 to perform the interpolation calculation. The sampling position for interpolation is determined based on the value obtained by reading the scaling control data in the memory (RAM) 43 in which the setting data of the operation unit 6 is stored by the memory control unit 364. The interpolated image data is written to the line memory under the control of the image path control unit 363. At this time, as shown in FIG.
The data thinned out by the control of the write enable 2 is output to the line memories 41 and 42. Line memory 4
The image data written to the memory devices 1 and 42 are read out after being delayed by one line, synthesized under a read enable state, and output as an output image through the image path control unit 363. At the time of reading, as shown in FIG.
Under the constant velocity condition of en = Low, the image data is directly taken in from the line memories 41 and 42. (3) Enlargement processing In the case of enlargement processing, input image data is written to the line memories 41 and 42 through the image path control unit 363. At the time of writing, the input data to the line memories 41 and 42 is written as it is under the constant speed condition of wen = Low. The image data written in the line memories 41 and 42 is read out after being delayed by one line, and is synthesized under the active state of the read enable. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the read is controlled by the read enable and the speed conversion is performed. The read data is sent to the interpolation calculation unit 362 through the image path control unit 363, and performs the interpolation calculation. The sampling position for the interpolation is determined based on the value obtained by reading the scaling control data in the memory (RAM) 43 in which the setting data of the operation unit 6 is stored by the memory control unit 364. The enlargement process is performed by changing the sampling position and interpolating a plurality of times for the data for which reading has been stopped. The interpolated image data is output as output image data from the interpolation calculation unit 362 through the image path control unit 363.

The memory control unit 36 in the above-described scaling process.
4 will be described. The memory control unit 364 is a block having a function of selecting control information for memory control and interpolation calculation. The control information to be selected is the operation unit 6
In accordance with the copy condition specified by the user's input. Here, a plurality of sets of set information are managed so as to cope with a case where a plurality of originals of different sizes are to be copied and a plurality of different copy conditions are set. The management includes information on a plurality of document sizes and the number of documents, information on a combination of main scanning and sub-scanning magnifications (magnification ratio of main and sub-scanning), information on the number of copies of a plurality of types, and information on the size of printing paper. The setting information of the copy condition composed of the designated information is stored in a memory area separately for each setting, and the control condition is selected based on information selected from a plurality of managed setting information. FIG.
3 shows an example of magnification control data stored in the memory area No. 3 and stores a plurality of magnification control data 1, 2, 3 in a separate memory area as a plurality of setting information set by one operation. ing. The control data to be stored is
Multiple document sizes, information about the number of documents, main scanning,
Information on the combination of magnifications for sub-scanning, information on the number of copies of a plurality of types, and information on the size of printing paper. The memory control unit 364 stores the memory 43 corresponding to the plurality of pieces of setting information.
The respective magnification control data are selected from a plurality of setting data stored in each memory area of the memory area, and are loaded into the line memory control unit 361 or the interpolation calculation unit 362. In the line memory control unit 361 and the interpolation calculation unit 362, the data necessary for the processing is provided by selecting from the data held in the respective internal memories based on the designated magnification, and used for the scaling processing. .

The advantage of this method is that, in one operation, a plurality of originals of different sizes are to be copied, and information relating to a plurality of original sizes and the number of originals, and magnifications of main scanning and sub-scanning are provided. To set a plurality of copy conditions including information on a combination (magnification ratio of main scanning and sub-scanning), information on the number of copies of a plurality of types, and designation information on a size of a printing paper, and manage the set information of a plurality of settings. By assigning each setting information to a memory area and storing it,
Control data for a plurality of magnifications can be set simultaneously. Therefore,
Different magnification control data is selected, and different magnifications can be processed with one setting for one image data, and continuous work can be automatically performed. Further, operation is easy and labor saving is achieved. be able to. A specific example to which this embodiment is applied will be described below. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between copies made by applying the present embodiment to a document. As shown in FIG. 8, in this example, a plurality of types of copy conditions can be designated as copy 1 and copy 2 for two types of document 1 and document 2 having document sizes 1 and 2, respectively. I have to. In the copy 1, the magnification 1, the main / sub combination 1, and the paper size 1 are designated under the same conditions for the document 1 and the document 2, and the number setting 1 is designated for the document 2. In copy 2, different conditions are specified for the original 1 and the original 2, the magnification 1, the main / sub combination 2, and the paper size 2 are specified for the original 1, and the magnification 3, The main / sub combination 2 and the paper size 2 are designated, and the number setting 2 is designated. In this way, by specifying the operation unit 6, it is possible to specify a plurality of types of document sizes, a plurality of types of copies, a plurality of copy magnifications, a plurality of main / sub combinations, and a plurality of printing paper sizes for a plurality of documents. it can. This makes it possible to make copies of a plurality of magnifications on a plurality of originals on a plurality of sizes of printing paper.

Here, the cubic function convolution method used for the interpolation operation in the interpolation operation unit 362 of the scaling processing circuit 36 will be described. FIG. 9 shows an example of a cubic function convolution method used in the interpolation calculation according to the present embodiment. (A) in FIG. 9 shows a method of calculating the gradation of the virtual sampling point, and the gradation of the virtual sampling point after the scaling process: σ
And a diagram for interpreting the meaning of variables in the calculation formula. FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance between pixels and the correction coefficient. The coefficients of the cubic function convolution method used in this embodiment are shown in the following table.

[0020]

[Table 1]

Usually, 50%, 2
There are three coefficients of 5%. Of which, 50% and 25% are 50% and 2
This is a correction coefficient for eliminating white spots at the time of 5% reduction. In the present embodiment, for the correction operation at the time of resampling of the scaling process, for the data at the same position as the original pixel position,
For the data level after the data is corrected, three correction methods can be selected. In the general case, the level of this data is
This is the same as all the corrected data. For specific magnification (50%
And 25%), use the coefficients as shown in the table above. If an image such as a one-dot line is corrected using this coefficient, it is possible to prevent the information of the image from being completely lost due to the position of the image.

[0022]

According to the present invention, it is possible to set processing conditions for generating image data having different magnifications by a single operation, and to output image data having different magnifications in a series according to the setting. By generating the document, when the process condition input operation is troublesome and the process target image is a document read image, the document setting is not troublesome, and the processing time can be reduced. (2) Effects corresponding to the second and sixth aspects of the invention In addition to the effect of the above (1), in addition to the processing of converting the speed of an input image by a line memory and the interpolation of image data to be resampled by a cubic function convolution method The provision of the scaling processing means for performing the processing makes it possible to easily implement the invention of claim 1. (3) Effects corresponding to the third aspect of the invention For a plurality of document sizes, a plurality of magnifications corresponding to a combination of a plurality of sheets on a plurality of sizes of paper and a plurality of magnifications of main scanning and sub scanning. To perform printout and improve the performance of an image forming apparatus (for example, a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc.).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration related to a video processing unit of an IPU in the digital copying machine of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a scaling processing circuit in the video processing unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows data control at the same magnification in the scaling processing circuit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows data control at the time of reduction in the scaling processing circuit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows data control at the time of enlargement in the scaling processing circuit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 shows a memory area of a magnification control data memory and control data.

FIG. 8 shows images of a document and a copy processed by the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a cubic function convolution method used in the interpolation calculation according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image reading device, 3 ... IPU (Image Processing Unit), 3V ... Video processing part,
4 image memory unit, 5 image forming apparatus,
6 ... operation unit, 36 ... scaling processing circuit,
362: interpolation calculation unit, 14: CCD (image sensor), 41, 42: line memory.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H027 EA02 EB01 EC01 ED04 ED06 EE01 EE08 EF09 FA01 FA02 FA04 FA05 FA06 FA35 GA14 GA23 GA35 ZA07 5C062 AA05 AB20 AB22 AB23 AC08 AC24 AF07 AF10 AF11 5C076 AA21 BB22 BA08 CB08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: an operation unit for setting a processing condition; and an image processing unit for processing an input image signal according to a processing condition set by the operation unit and generating output image data. The operating unit is capable of setting a processing condition for generating image data having different magnifications by a single operation for an input image to be processed, and the image processing unit includes:
An image processing apparatus, wherein output image data having different magnifications is generated by a series of processes according to the setting. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit performs a speed conversion process on the input image by a line memory and an image data to be resampled in a cubic function converter in accordance with magnification setting data. An image processing apparatus comprising: a scaling unit that performs a process of performing an interpolation operation by a volume method. 3. A document reading device, the image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the document reading image is used as an input image, and means for forming an image based on image data generated by the image processing device. Wherein the operation unit includes a plurality of document sizes, a number of pages of the document, a plurality of types of printed sheets, a plurality of magnifications of main scanning and sub scanning as processing conditions for generating image data. , And a plurality of sizes of printing paper can be set for an input image to be processed by a single operation, and the image processing unit generates image data to be used for image formation by a series of processes according to the setting. An image forming apparatus comprising: